Methods for forming a preformed flower pot cover having a finish simulating the appearance of cloth

ABSTRACT

Flexible polymeric materials having a cloth-like appearance suitable for use in the formation of flower pot covers, floral wrappings and ribbon materials are disclosed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/796,661,filed Feb. 28, 2001; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No.09/228,847, filed Jan. 12, 1999, now abandoned; which is a continuationof U.S. Ser. No. 09/098,898, filed Jun. 17, 1998, now abandoned; whichclaims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of Provisional applicationU.S. Ser. No. 60/050,867, filed Jun. 26, 1997.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002] Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The present invention relates to polymeric materials having acloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof, and more particularly butnot by way of limitation, to flower pot covers, floral wrappings andribbon materials made from such polymeric materials. In one aspect, thepresent invention relates to methods for producing flower pot covers andmethods of wrapping floral groupings and flower pots with a sheet ofpolymeric material having a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereofto provide a decorative cover for such floral groupings and flower pots.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet of polymeric materialhaving a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

[0005]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the sheet of polymeric materialhaving a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof of FIG. 1 having abonding material disposed along one edge thereof.

[0006]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sheet of polymeric materialhaving a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof of FIG. 2 having afloral grouping disposed thereon.

[0007]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the floral grouping of FIG. 3being wrapped with the sheet of polymeric material having acloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof of FIG. 2 by one method ofwrapping.

[0008]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a decorative cover for the floralgrouping formed from the sheet of polymeric material of FIG. 2 whereinthe decorative cover formed from the sheet of material has a conicalconfiguration.

[0009]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a decorative cover formed from thesheet of polymeric material of FIG. 2 wherein a floral grouping iswrapped with the sheet of polymeric material having a cloth-appearingfinish on a surface thereof by a second method of wrapping so that thedecorative cover formed from the sheet of polymeric material having acloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof has a substantiallycylindrical configuration.

[0010]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a decorative cover positionedabout a flower pot wherein the decorative cover is formed from the sheetof polymeric material having a cloth-appearing finish on a surfacethereof of FIG. 1.

[0011]FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a flower pot cover former andband applicator apparatus having the sheet of polymeric material havinga cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof of FIG. 1 disposed abovean opening of the flower pot cover former and band applicator and havinga flower pot disposed above the sheet of polymeric material having acloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof.

[0012]FIG. 9A is a perspective view of a sheet of expanded corepolymeric film having a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereofwherein an acrylic heat sealable lacquer is disposed on at least onesurface thereof.

[0013]FIG. 9B is a perspective view of a laminated sheet of materialhaving a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof wherein thelaminated sheet of material comprises a sheet of expanded core polymericfilm having a sheet of water impervious polymeric film laminatedthereto.

[0014]FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a preformed pot cover formed froma sheet of the expanded core polymeric film of FIG. 9A, or a laminatedsheet of material of FIG. 9B, or a sheet of the polymeric materialhaving a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof similar to thesheet of polymeric material of FIG. 1.

[0015]FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the preformed pot cover of FIG.10 having a flower pot disposed therein.

[0016]FIG. 12 is a diagrammatic, cross-sectional view of a male andfemale mold having a sheet of the expanded core polymeric film of FIG.9A disposed therebetween for forming the preformed pot cover of FIG. 10.

[0017]FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a floral sleeve formed from thesheet of polymeric material having a cloth-appearing finish on a surfacethereof.

[0018]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the floral sleeve of FIG. 13disposed about a floral grouping.

[0019]FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a floral sleeve having a cinchingmember wherein the floral sleeve is formed from a sheet of polymericmaterial having a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof.

[0020]FIG. 16 is a perspective view of the floral sleeve of FIG. 15disposed about a floral grouping.

[0021]FIG. 17 is a side view of a sleeve having a detachable portionwherein the sleeve is formed from a sheet of polymeric material having acloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof.

[0022]FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the sleeve of FIG. 17 having aflower pot disposed therein.

[0023]FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a flower pot disposed in thesleeve of FIG. 17 wherein an upper portion of the sleeve has beenremoved to provide a decorative cover having a skirt.

[0024]FIG. 20A is a perspective view of a polymeric ribbon materialhaving a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof.

[0025]FIG. 20B is a perspective view of a polymeric ribbon materialformed of an expanded core polymeric film having an acrylic lacquer onat least one surface thereof.

[0026]FIG. 20C is a perspective view of a laminated polymeric ribbonwherein one layer of the laminate is an expanded core polymeric film.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES 1-9

[0027] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, designated generally by thereference numeral 10 is a sheet of polymeric material having acloth-like finish or appearance. That is, at least one surface of thesheet of polymeric material 10 has been modified to provide a matte ortextured finish simulating the appearance of cloth. The terms“cloth-like finish” and “matte or finish simulating the appearance ofcloth” may be used interchangeably. The modification of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 to provide the sheet of polymeric material with amatte or textured finish can be accomplished in several ways. Forexample, a matte finish can be provided by printing a desired pattern onthe sheet of polymeric material and thereafter laminating a mattematerial, such as a translucent polymeric film, over the printedpattern. To further enhance the cloth-like appearance of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10, the matte material may or may not have aplurality of spatially disposed holes extending therethrough. A matte ortextured finish can also be produced by printing a sheet of polymericmaterial with a matted (i.e. dull finish) ink, by lacquering at leastone surface of the sheet of polymeric material with a dull finishlacquer or a matting lacquer, by embossing the sheet of polymericmaterial to provide an embossed pattern simulating the weave or textureof cloth, or by embossing and printing the sheet of polymeric materialto provide embossed and printed patterns wherein the embossed andprinted patterns may be in registry, out of registry or wherein aportion of the embossed and printed patterns are in registry and aportion of the embossed and printed patterns are out of registry. Inaddition, a matte or textured finish capable a providing the sheet ofpolymeric material with a cloth-like appearance can be achieved byextruding a polymeric resin onto a matted or textured chill roll or bylaminating a second sheet of material to the sheet of polymericmaterial.

[0028] The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearancehas an upper surface 14, a lower surface 16, and an outer peripheraledge 18. The lower surface 16 is matted or textured as described aboveto provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with a cloth-likeappearance. The outer peripheral edge 18 of the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 comprises a first side 20, a second side 22, a third side24, and a fourth side 26. A bonding material 27 (FIG. 2) may be disposedon at least a portion of one or both surfaces of the sheet of material10, such as the upper surface 14 thereof as shown and as furtherillustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,364, entitled “WRAPPING A FLORALGROUPING WITH SHEETS HAVING ADHESIVE OR COHESIVE MATERIAL APPLIEDTHERETO”, issued to Weder on Jan. 26, 1999, the specification of whichis hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

[0029] The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearancemay be employed to provide a decorative cover for a floral grouping(FIGS. 3 through 6) or a decorative cover for a flower pot (FIG. 7); orit may be employed to form a preformed flower pot cover for covering aflower pot (FIGS. 10 and 11); or it may be employed to provide a sleevefor wrapping or covering a floral grouping (FIGS. 13 through 16) or aflower pot (FIGS. 17 through 19); or it may be employed to provide aribbon material having a cloth-like appearance (FIG. 20A through 20c).The use of the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a cloth-likeappearance to form a decorative cover for a floral grouping or a flowerpot, or to form a sleeve for a floral grouping or a flower pot, or toform a preformed flower pot cover, or as a ribbon material will bedescribed in more complete detail herein.

[0030] As noted above, the sheet of polymeric material 10 having acloth-like appearance can be utilized to form a decorative cover for afloral grouping or a flower pot. The term “flower pot” as used hereinrefers to any type of container for holding a floral grouping, or aplant, or even another pot type container. Examples of flower potsand/or pot type containers include, but are not limited to, clay pots,wooden pots, plastic pots, pots made from natural and/or syntheticfibers, or any combination thereof. Such flower pots and/or pot-typecontainers are provided with a retaining space for receiving a floralgrouping. The floral grouping may be disposed within the retaining spaceof the flower pot with a suitable growing medium described in furtherdetail below, or other retaining medium, such as a floral foam. It willalso be understood that in some cases the floral grouping, and anyappropriate growing medium or other retaining medium, may be disposed ina sleeve formed from the sheet of material 10 if the sleeve is adaptedto contain a medium.

[0031] “Floral grouping” as used herein will be understood to includecut fresh flowers, artificial flowers, a single flower or other freshand/or artificial plants or other floral materials and may include othersecondary plants and/or ornamentation or artificial or natural materialswhich add to the aesthetics of the overall floral grouping. Further, thefloral grouping may comprise a growing potted plant having a rootportion as well. However, it will be appreciated that the floralgrouping may consist of only a single bloom or only foliage, or abotanical item (not shown), or a propagule. The term “floral grouping”may be used interchangeably herein with the term “floral arrangement”.The term “floral grouping” may also be used interchangeably herein withthe terms “botanical item” and/or “propagule.”

[0032] The term “growing medium” when used herein will be understood toinclude any liquid, solid or gaseous material used for plant growth orfor the cultivation of propagules, including organic and inorganicmaterials such as soil, humus, perlite, vermiculite, sand, water, andincluding the nutrients, fertilizers or hormones or combinations thereofrequired by the plants or propagules for growth.

[0033] The term “botanical item” when used herein will be understood toinclude a natural or artificial herbaceous or woody plant, takensingularly or in combination. The term “botanical item” also includesany portion or portions of natural or artificial herbaceous or woodyplants including stems, leaves, flowers, blossoms, buds, blooms, cones,or roots, taken singly or in combination, or in groupings of suchportions such as bouquets or floral groupings.

[0034] The term “propagule” when used herein will be understood toinclude any structure capable of being propagated or acting as an agentof reproduction including seeds, shoots, stems, runners, tubers, plants,leaves, roots or spores.

[0035] In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 having a cloth-like appearance is square. It will beappreciated, however, that the sheet of polymeric material 10 having acloth-like appearance can be of any shape, configuration or size as longas the sheet of polymeric material 10 is sufficiently sized and shapedto wrap and encompass a floral grouping or a flower pot. For example,the sheet of polymeric material 10 may have a rectangular, round, oval,octagonal or asymmetrical shape. Further, multiple sheets of thepolymeric material 10 may be used in a single circumstance to provide adecorative cover or sleeve for a floral grouping or a flower pot.Moreover, when multiple sheets of the polymeric material 10 having acloth-like appearance are used in combination, the sheets of polymericmaterial 10 need not be uniform in size or shape. Finally, it will beappreciated that the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a cloth-likeappearance shown herein is a substantially flat sheet except for thetexturing, matting, embossing, flocking, application of a foamablelacquer or foamable ink, or other treatments and techniques employed toprovide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with the desired texture ormatting so that the sheet of polymeric material 10 has the appearance ofcloth.

[0036] Any thickness or stiffness of the sheet of polymeric material 10may be utilized in accordance with the present invention as long as thesheet of polymeric material 10 can be modified to provide the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 with a cloth-like appearance and the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearance can be wrappedabout at least a portion of a floral grouping or a flower pot, asdescribed herein. Generally, the sheet of polymeric material 10 willhave a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, andmore desirably a thickness in a range of from about 0.5 mil to about 2.5mil.

[0037] The terms “polymer film”, “polymeric film” and “polymericmaterial” when used herein will be understood to refer to a syntheticpolymer such as a polypropylene, a naturally occurring polymer such ascellophane, an extruded polymeric material having an expanded core suchas extruded polypropylene having an expanded core and combinationsthereof, including but not limited to, laminated materials. The extrudedpolymeric material having an expanded core (which is sometimes referredto herein as an expanded core polymeric material) will generally have athickness in the range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil, moredesirably in the range of from about 0.6 mil to about 1.25 mil.“Extruded polymeric material having an expanded core” as used hereinrefers to any extrudable polymeric material in which the core isexpanded during extrusion, such as by incorporation of a blowing agentin the polymeric resin which is being extruded.

[0038] The sheet of material 10 may also be constructed, in whole or inpart, from a cling material. “Cling material” when used herein includesany material which is capable of connecting to the sheet of materialand/or itself upon contacting engagement during the wrapping process andis wrappable about an item whereby portions of the cling materialcontactingly engage and connect to other portions of another material,or, alternatively, itself, for generally securing the material wrappedabout at least a portion of a flower pot. This connecting engagement ispreferably temporary in that the material may be easily removed, i.e.,the cling material “clings” to the flower pot.

[0039] The cling material is constructed, and treated if necessary, frompolyethylene such as Cling Wrap made by Glad®, First Brands Corporation,Danbury, Conn. The thickness of the cling material will, in part, dependupon the size of sleeve and the size of the flower pot in the sleeve,i.e., generally, a larger flower pot may require a thicker and thereforestronger cling material. The cling material will range in thickness fromabout 0.1 mil to about 10 mil, and preferably from about 0.5 mil toabout 2.5 mil and most preferably from about 0.6 mil to about 2 mil.However, any thickness of cling material may be utilized in accordancewith the present invention which permits the cling material to bemodified as hereinbefore described to provide the cling material with acloth-like appearance.

[0040] In one embodiment, a sleeve may be constructed from two sheets ofpolypropylene film wherein at least a lower or outer surface of one ofthe sheets of polypropylene film is modified as hereinbefore describedto provide at least one of the sheets of polypropylene film with acloth-like appearance. The sheets of polypropylene film employed toproduce the sleeve may be connected together or laminated or may beseparate layers. In an alternative embodiment, the sleeve may beconstructed from only one sheet of polypropylene film having acloth-like appearance.

[0041] The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearancemay vary in color. Further, the sheet of polymeric material 10 maycomprise other decorative patterns or designs in addition to thematting, texturing, flocking, application of flammable lacquers orfoamable inks, or embossing employed to impart the cloth-like appearanceto the sheet of polymeric material 10.

[0042] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the sheet of polymeric material 10 hasa width 30 extending generally between the first side 20 and the secondside 22, respectively, sufficiently sized whereby the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 can be wrapped about and encompass a floral grouping or aflower pot. The sheet of polymeric material 10 has a length 32 extendinggenerally between the third side 24 and the fourth side 26,respectively, sufficiently sized whereby the sheet of polymeric material10 extends over a substantial portion of the floral grouping when thesheet of polymeric material 10 has been wrapped about the floralgrouping in accordance with the present invention, as described indetail herein. The sheet of polymeric material 10 may also be wrappedabout a flower pot to substantially wrap and cover the flower pot inaccordance with the present invention.

[0043] A plurality of sheets of polymeric material 10 having acloth-like appearance may be connected together to form a roll as isshown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,976, issued to Weder et al. on Oct. 24,1995 entitled “MATERIAL AND ADHESIVE STRIP DISPENSER”, the specificationof which is hereby expressly incorporated in its entirety herein byreference.

[0044] FIGS. 3-5 illustrate the use of the sheet of polymeric material10 having a cloth-like appearance in wrapping a floral grouping 34 toprovide a decorative cover 36 (FIG. 5) for the floral grouping 34wherein the decorative cover 36 has an open upper end 38 and a lower end40. The sheet of polymeric material 10 may optionally have the strip ofbonding material 27 disposed upon the upper surface 14, the lowersurface 16 or both, such as the strip of bonding material 27 disposedalong at least a portion of the upper surface 14 of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 so as to be disposed substantially adjacent thefourth side 26 thereof substantially as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Further,the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearance can beprovided either as an individual sheet or from a pad or roll ofmaterial.

[0045] The bonding material 27, if present, may have a backing orrelease strip (not shown). The backing or release strip may be leftapplied for a period of time to the bonding material 27 after it isdisposed on a surface of the sheet of polymeric material 10 prior to itsuse as a wrapping material, to protect the bonding qualities of thebonding strip. In operation, an operator may dispose the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearance on a supportsurface (not shown)such that the lower surface 16 of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 (which has been modified to provide the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 with a cloth-like appearance) is in contact withthe support surface.

[0046] Referring more specifically to FIGS. 3-5, the floral grouping 34is placed upon the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material10 in a diagonal orientation. The floral grouping 34 has an upper bloomor foliage portion 42 and a lower stem portion 44. The sheet ofpolymeric material 10 is then wrapped about the floral grouping 34 bythe operator (FIGS. 4 and 5), the operator overlapping a portion of thesheet of polymeric material 10 over another portion of the sheet ofpolymeric material 10. That is, for example, the operator places thefirst side 20 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 over the floralgrouping 34, as shown in FIG. 4. The operator continues to roll thefloral grouping 34 and the sheet of polymeric material 10 in thedirection toward the second side 22 of the sheet of polymeric material10 until the upper surface 14 near second side 22 firmly engages thelower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10, wherein thefloral grouping 34 is substantially encompassed by the sheet ofpolymeric material 10, and wherein the bonding material 27 contacts thesheet of polymeric material 10 to provide the decorative cover 36 havinga cloth-like appearance which substantially encompasses and surrounds asubstantial portion of the floral grouping 34. FIG. 5 shows the floralgrouping 34 wrapped in a conical fashion to provide the decorative cover36 for the floral grouping 34 which has the appearance of being made ofa cloth material. When the floral grouping 34 is wrapped in a conicalfashion, the bloom portion 42 of the floral grouping 34 is exposed nearthe open upper end 38 of the decorative cover 36, and the stem portion44 of the floral grouping 34 is exposed near the lower end 40 of thedecorative cover 36.

[0047] In another embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 6, the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearance is utilized to wrapthe floral grouping 34 in a cylindrical fashion. The floral grouping 34is disposed upon the sheet of polymeric material 10 approximatelyparallel to the third side 24 of the sheet of polymeric material 10. Thesheet of polymeric material 10 is wrapped generally about the stemportion 44 of the floral grouping 34 to a position wherein the thirdside 24 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 generally overlaps thefourth side 26 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 in a cylindricalfashion. It should be noted that the sheet of polymeric material 10 maybe wrapped a plurality of times about the stem portion 44 of the floralgrouping 34 before the overlapping of the third side 24 and the fourthside 26 of the sheet of polymeric material 10. As before, the portion ofthe sheet of polymeric material 10 near the third side 24 is disposedgenerally adjacent another portion of the sheet of polymeric material 10and the two adjacent portions then are brought into contact where theymay be bondingly engaged, thereby securing the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 generally about the floral grouping 34 so as to provide adecorative cover 36 a for the floral grouping 34 which has theappearance of being fabricated of cloth.

[0048] In another version of the invention, the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 having a cloth-like appearance may be used to wrap a flowerpot or pot-type container, as noted above. Shown in FIG. 7 is a flowerpot designated by the reference numeral 50 having an open upper end 52,a bottom end 54, an outer peripheral surface 56, an inner retainingspace 58 within which may be disposed a growing medium. The flower pot50 may contain a botanical item, such as a plant 60, which has an upperportion 62 comprising blooms or foliage or both.

[0049] The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearancemay be wrapped about the flower pot 50 by any one of numerous methodsused to wrap sheets of material about flower pots to form decorative potcovers for flower pots, such as a decorative cover 61 having acloth-like appearance disposed about the flower pot 50 illustrated inFIG. 7. The sheet of polymeric material 10 may, for example, be formedby hand about the outer peripheral surface 56 of the flower pot 50 toproduce the decorative cover 61 which has the appearance of beingfabricated of cloth. The decorative cover 61 can then be secured aboutthe flower pot 50 by a bonding material or by an elastic band 64 suchthat the open upper end 52 of the flower pot 50 remains substantiallyuncovered by the decorative cover 61 substantially as shown in FIG. 7.

[0050] Referring now to FIG. 8, a flower pot cover former and bandapplicator apparatus 66 for forming the sheet of polymeric material 10having a cloth-like appearance into the decorative cover 61 for theflower pot 50 of FIG. 7 is illustrated. The flower pot cover former andband applicator apparatus 66 comprises a band applicator 68 and a flowerpot cover former 70. The flower pot cover former and band applicatorapparatus 66 has a support platform 72 with an opening 74 formedtherein. A band, such as elastic band 64, is disposed circumferentiallyabout the opening 74 in the support platform 72.

[0051] The lower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 (whichhas been modified to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with atextured or matted surface simulating cloth) is positioned on an uppersurface 76 on the support platform 72 such that the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 is positioned over the opening 74 in the support platform72. The flower pot 50 is positioned above the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 and is moved in a direction 78 into the opening 74 of theflower pot cover former and band applicator apparatus 66. As the flowerpot 50 is moved into the opening 74, the sheet of polymeric material 10is pressed about the outer peripheral surface 56 of the flower pot 50thereby forming the decorative cover 61 about the flower pot 50. Thedecorative cover 61 (which has a cloth-like appearance) is then securedabout the flower pot 50 by the elastic band 64. The flower pot 50 havingthe decorative cover 61 secured thereto is then moved in a direction 80out of the opening 74 in the support platform 72.

[0052] The elastic band 64 can be applied manually or automatically suchas by the method shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,599, entitled “MEANS FORSECURING A DECORATIVE COVER ABOUT A FLOWER POT”, issued to Weder on Apr.21, 1993 which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Theband 64 can also be applied as a tie using a method such as described in“Single Station Covering and Fastening System”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,009,issued to Weder et al. on Mar. 11, 1997, the specification of which ishereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. The sheet ofpolymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearance can also be appliedautomatically about the flower pot 50, for example, by methods shown inU.S. Pat. No. 4,733,521 entitled “COVER FORMING APPARATUS” issued toWeder et al. on Mar. 29, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,721, entitled“COVER FORMING APPARATUS HAVING A VOTING FORMING MEMBERS”, issued toWeder et al. on Mar. 8, 1994, both of which are hereby expresslyincorporated herein by reference.

[0053] Instead of securing the decorative cover 61 about the flower pot50 via the band 64, the decorative cover 61 formed from the sheet ofpolymeric material 10 having a cloth-like appearance may be secured tothe flower pot 50 by the use of one or more bonding materials. Forexample, the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 mayhave a bonding material such as the bonding material 27 disposed upon aportion thereof. When the sheet of polymeric material 10 is disposedabout the flower pot 50, at least a portion of the upper surface 14 ofthe sheet of polymeric material 10 contacts the outer peripheral surface56 of the flower pot 50 and is thereby bonded and held about the flowerpot 50 via the bonding material.

[0054] The bonding material may cover a portion of the upper surface 14of the sheet of polymeric material 10, or the bonding material mayentirely cover the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material10. The bonding material may be disposed on the upper surface 14 of thesheet of polymeric material 10 in the form of a strip or in the form ofspaced-apart spots. One method for disposing a bonding material on thesheet of polymeric material 10 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,637,entitled “Method For Wrapping A Floral Grouping”, issued to Weder, etal. on May 12, 1992, which is expressly incorporated herein byreference.

[0055] The term “bonding material” when used herein refers to anadhesive, frequently a pressure sensitive adhesive, or a cohesive or anyadhesive/cohesive combination having adhesive qualities (i.e., qualitiesof adhesion or adhesion/cohesion, respectively) sufficient to cause theattachment of a portion of the sheet of polymeric material 10 to itself,to a floral grouping 34, or to a flower pot 50. Since the bondingmaterial may comprise either an adhesive or an adhesive/cohesivecombination, it will be appreciated that both adhesives and cohesivesare known in the art, and both are commercially available. When thebonding material is a cohesive, a similar cohesive material must beplaced on the adjacent surface for bondingly contacting and bondinglyengaging with the cohesive material. The term “bonding material” alsoincludes materials which are heat sealable and, in this instance, theadjacent portions of the material must be brought into contact and thenheat must be applied to effect the seal. The term “bonding material”also includes materials which are sonically sealable and vibratorysealable. The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes aheat sealing lacquer or hot melt material which may be applied to thematerial and, in this instance, heat, sound waves, or vibrations, alsomust be applied to effect the sealing.

[0056] The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes anytype of material or thing which can be used to effect the bonding orconnecting of the two adjacent portions of the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 to effect the connection or bonding described herein. Theterm “bonding material” may also include ties, labels, bands, ribbons,strings, tapes (including single or doublesided adhesive tapes), staplesor combinations thereof. Some of the bonding materials would secure theends of the material while other bonding materials may bind thecircumference of a cover, or a sleeve, or, alternatively and/or inaddition, the bonding materials would secure overlapping folds in thematerial and/or sleeve. Another way to secure the cover and/or sleeve isto heat seal the ends of the material to another portion of thematerial. One way to do this is to contact the ends with an iron ofsufficient heat to heat seal the material.

[0057] Alternatively, a cold seal adhesive may be utilized as thebonding material. The cold seal adhesive adheres only to a similarsubstrate, acting similarly as a cohesive, and binds only to itself. Thecold seal adhesive, since it bonds only to a similar substrate, does notcause a residue to build up on equipment, thereby both permitting muchmore rapid disposition and use of such equipment to form articles andreducing labor costs. Further, since no heat is required to effect theseal, the dwell time, that is, the time for the sheet of material toform and retain the shape of an article, such as a flower pot cover orflower pot, is reduced. A cold seal adhesive binds quickly and easilywith minimal pressure, and such a seal is not readily releasable. Thischaracteristic is different from, for example, a pressure sensitiveadhesive.

[0058] The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes anyheat or chemically shrinkable material, and static electrical or otherelectrical materials, chemical welding materials, magnetic materials,mechanical or barbtype fastening materials or clamps, curl-typecharacteristics of the film or materials incorporated in material whichcan cause the material to take on certain shapes, cling films, slots,grooves, shrinkable materials and bands, curl materials, springs, andany type of welding method which may weld portions of the material toitself or to the pot, or to both the material itself and the pot.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGS. 9-12

[0059] Referring now to FIGS. 9 through 11, a decorative preformedflower pot cover 110 illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 is constructed froma sheet of flexible material 112 having a cloth-like appearance (FIG.9A) or a laminated sheet of flexible material 112 a (FIG. 9B). It shouldbe understood that a sheet of material similar to the sheet of polymericmaterial 10 having a cloth-like appearance hereinbefore described canalso be employed to form the decorative preformed pot cover 110. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 9A, the sheet of flexible material 112 used inthe construction of the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110comprises a sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 having an uppersurface 116, a lower surface 118 and a thickness in the range of fromabout 0.6 mil to about 10 mil, more desirably in the range of from about0.6 mil to about 1.25 mil, and a coating of an acrylic heat sealablelacquer 120 disposed on at least one of the upper and lower surfaces 116and 118, respectively, of the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114.While the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 is shown as beingformed of the sheet of flexible material 112 having a matte or texturedfinish simulating the appearance of cloth, it should be understood thatthe decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 can also be formed from asheet of flexible material 112 comprising a sheet of expanded corepolymeric film 114 having a coating of acrylic heat sealable lacquer 120disposed on at least one surface thereof wherein the surface of thesheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 is not modified to provide acloth-like appearance.

[0060] As previously stated, the modification of the sheet of expandedcore polymeric film 114 to provide the sheet of flexible material 112with the desired matte or textured finish can be accomplished byprinting a desired pattern on the sheet of expanded core polymeric film114 and thereafter laminating a matte material, such as a translucentpolymeric film, over the printed pattern. To further enhance thecloth-like appearance, the matte material may or may not have aplurality of spatially disposed holes extending therethrough. A matte ortextured finish can also be produced by printing a sheet of expandedcore polymeric film 114 with a matted (i.e. dull finish) ink, bylacquering at least one surface of the sheet of expanded core polymericfilm 114 with a dull finish lacquer or a matting lacquer, by embossingthe sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 to provide an embossedpattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth, or by embossing andprinting the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 to provideembossed and printed patterns wherein the embossed and printed patternsmay be in registry, out of registry or wherein a portion of the embossedand printed patterns are in registry and a portion of the embossed andprinted patterns are out of registry. In addition, a matte or texturedfinish capable a providing the sheet of flexible polymeric film 114 witha cloth-like appearance can be achieved by extruding a polymeric resinonto a matted or textured chill roll to produce the sheet of expandedcore polymeric film 114 or by laminating a second sheet of material tothe sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114. When the sheet offlexible material 112 is formed into the decorative preformed flower potcover 110, a plurality of overlapping folds 122 are formed and at leasta portion of the overlapping folds 122 are connected to adjacentlydisposed portions of the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 viathe acrylic heat sealable lacquer 120.

[0061] As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the decorative preformed pot cover110 has a base 124 having an open upper end 125, a lower end 126, and anouter peripheral surface 128. An opening 130 intersects the open upperend 125 of the base 124 of the decorative preformed flower pot cover,forming an inner peripheral surface 132 which defines and encompasses aretaining space 133 within which a flower pot 134 containing a floralgrouping 136 may be disposed in a manner well known in the art (FIG.11). The decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 is further providedwith a decorative border 138 which extends outwardly from the open upperend 125 of the base 124. Desirably, at least a portion of one surface ofone of the base 124 and the decorative border 138 of the decorativeborder 138 of the decorative, preformed flower pot cover 110 is providedwith a matte or textured finish simulating the appearance of cloth.

[0062] As stated above, the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 isprovided with a plurality of overlapping folds 122 which are formed inthe base 124 thereof, and at least a portion of the overlapping folds122 are connected so that the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110may be substantially flattened and then unflattened to assume theoriginal shape of the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110. Asubstantial portion of the overlapping folds 122 extend over differentdistances and at various and arbitrary angles. The decorative border 138of the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 is substantially freeof permanently connected overlapping folds.

[0063] In another embodiment, a laminated sheet of flexible material 112a (FIG. 9B) is used in the construction of the decorative preformedflower pot cover 110. The laminated sheet of flexible material 112 a isa laminated material which comprises a sheet of expanded core polymericfilm 114 a having an upper surface 116 a, and a lower surface 118 a, anda substantially water impervious polymeric film 120 a. At least onesurface of the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 a orsubstantially water impervious polymeric film 120 a is modified toprovide the laminated sheet of flexible material 112 a with the desiredcloth-like appearance. It should be understood that the decorativepreformed flower pot cover 110 can also be formed from a laminated sheetof flexible material 112 a comprising a sheet of expanded core polymericfilm 114 a and a substantially water impervious polymeric film 120 awherein neither the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 a nor thesubstantially water impervious polymeric film 120 a is modified toprovide the laminated sheet of flexible material 112 a with the desiredcloth-like appearance.

[0064] The sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 a desirably has athickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil, and moredesirably from about 0.6 mil to about 1.25 mil, and the substantiallywater impervious polymeric film 120 a desirably has a thickness in arange of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil. The substantially waterimpervious polymeric film 120 a is desirably laminated to the sheet ofexpanded core polymeric material 114 a with a colored adhesive so as toimpart a desired color to the laminated sheet of flexible material 112a. While the thickness of the laminated sheet of flexible material 112 acan vary widely, and will generally depend on the thickness of the sheetof expanded core polymeric film 114 a and the thickness of thesubstantially water impervious polymeric film 120 a, desirable resultscan be obtained where the laminated sheet of flexible material 112 a hasa thickness in the range of from about 1.5 mil to about 2.5 mil.

[0065] As previously stated, the decorative preformed flower pot cover110 may be constructed of the sheet of flexible material 112 (FIG. 9A),or from the laminated sheet of flexible material 112 a (FIG. 9B), orfrom the sheet of polymeric material 10 (FIG. 1); and the decorativepreformed flower pot cover 110 so formed will have a plurality ofoverlapping folds 122 formed therein, at least a portion thereof beingconnected. If desired, the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 canbe formed of a plurality of sheets of the same and/or different types ofmaterial.

[0066] The method and apparatus employed to form the preformed flowerpot cover is substantially identical whether one uses one or more sheetsof the flexible material 112 (FIG. 9A), or one or more laminated sheetsof the flexible material 112 a (FIG. 9B), or one or more sheets ofpolymeric material 10 (FIG. 1) or a combination of such sheets ofmaterial. Thus, only the formation of the preformed flower pot cover 110using a sheet of the flexible material 112 of FIG. 9 will be describedin detail hereinafter.

[0067] The decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 may be formed usinga conventional mold system 140 comprising a male mold 142 and a femalemold 144 having a mold cavity 146 for matingly receiving the male mold142 (FIG. 12). The sheet of flexible material 112 is positioned betweenthe male and female molds 142 and 144, respectively. Movement of themale mold 142 in the direction 148 and into the mold cavity 146 forcesthe sheet of flexible material 112 to be disposed about the portion ofthe male mold 142 disposed in the mold cavity 146 of the female mold 146and thereby forms the sheet of material 112 into the preformeddecorative flower pot cover 110 (FIGS. 10 and 11). Further, inaccordance with the present invention, the decorative preformed flowerpot cover 110 constructed from the materials described herein above, mayhave a bonding material disposed upon a portion thereof.

[0068] Methods for forming such preformed decorative pot covers are wellknown in the art. Two methods of forming such covers are described inU.S. Pat. No. 4,773,182, entitled “ARTICLE FORMING SYSTEM” issued toWeder et al. on Sep. 27, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,721, entitled“COVER FORMING APPARATUS HAVING A VOTING FORMING MEMBERS”, issued toWeder et al. on Mar. 8, 1994, each of which is expressly incorporatedherein by reference.

DESCRIPTION OF FIGS. 13-19

[0069] Shown in FIG. 13 is a decorative cover designated therein by thegeneral reference numeral 160 which comprises a flexible bag or sleeve162 of unitary construction having a cloth-like appearance in accordancewith the present invention. The sleeve 162 may be used as a decorativecover 160 for a floral grouping or a flower pot. The sleeve 162initially comprises a flexible flat collapsed piece of material which isopenable in the form of a tube or sleeve. Such sleeves are well known inthe floral industry. Further, in accordance with the present invention,at least a portion of one surface, preferably an outer peripheralsurface 164 of the sleeve 162, has been modified to provide with sleeve162 with a cloth-like appearance, as previously described herein. Thesleeve 162 has an upper end 166, a lower end 168 and the outerperipheral surface 164. The sleeve 162 may be tapered outwardly from thelower end 168 toward a larger diameter at its upper end 166. In itsflattened state the sleeve 162 generally has an overall trapezoidal ormodified trapezoidal shape, and when opened is substantiallyfrusto-conical to coniform. It will be appreciated, however, that thesleeve 162 may comprise variations on the aforementioned shapes or maycomprise significantly altered shapes such as square or rectangular,wherein the sleeve 162 when opened has a cylindrical form, as long asthe sleeve 162 functions in accordance with the present invention in themanner described herein. The sleeve 162 (or any other sleeve disclosedherein) may have an angular or contoured shape.

[0070] The sleeve 162 has an opening 170 at the upper end 166 and may beopen at the lower end 168, or closed with a bottom at the lower end 168.The sleeve 162 also has an inner peripheral surface 172 which, when thesleeve 162 is opened, defines and encompasses an inner retaining space174. When the lower end 168 of the sleeve 162 has a closed lower end168, a portion of the lower end 168 may be inwardly folded to form oneor more gussets (not shown) for allowing the lower portion of the innerretaining space 174 to be expandable, for example, for receiving thecircular bottom of a pot or growing medium.

[0071] The sleeve 162 is generally frusto-conically shaped, but thesleeve 162 may be, by way of example but not by way of limitation,cylindrical, frusto-conical, a combination of both frusto-conical andcylindrical, or any other shape, as long as the sleeve 162 functions asdescribed herein as noted above. Further, the sleeve 162 may compriseany shape, whether geometric, nongeometric, asymmetrical and/or fancifulas long as it functions in accordance with the present invention. Thesleeve 162 may also be equipped with drain holes (if having a closedbottom) or side ventilation holes (not shown), or can be made from gaspermeable or impermeable materials.

[0072] The material from which the sleeve 162 is constructed is the sameas previously described above for the sheet of polymeric material 10having a cloth-like appearance, or the sheet of flexible material 112 or112 a. Any thickness of material may be utilized in accordance with thepresent invention as long as the sleeve 162 may be formed as describedherein, is provided with a cloth-like appearance, and as long as theformed sleeve 162 may contain at least a portion of a flower pot or afloral grouping, as described herein. Additionally, an insulatingmaterial such as bubble film, preferable as one of two or more layers,can be utilized in order to provide additional protection for the item,such as a floral grouping, contained therein.

[0073] In FIG. 14 the sleeve 162 is illustrated having a cloth likeappearance provided on the outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve162. A floral grouping 176 is disposed within the inner retaining space174 of the sleeve 162. Generally, an upper or bloom portion 178 of thefloral grouping 176 is exposed near the opening 170 of the sleeve 162and a lower or stem portion 180 of the floral grouping 176 is exposednear the lower end 168 of the sleeve 162. Either end of the sleeve 162may be closed about the floral grouping 176. Generally, a portion of thesleeve 162 is tightened about a portion of the stem portion 180 of thefloral grouping 176 for holding the decorative cover 160 about thefloral grouping 176. For example, the sleeve 162 may be held by a tie182 tied about the sleeve 162 such as is shown in FIG. 14. Other methodsfor binding the sleeve 162 may be employed such as the bonding methodsand materials described elsewhere herein. For example, as shown in FIG.15, a decorative cover 160 a is shown which comprises a sleeve 162 ahaving a cloth-like appearance and a cinching tab 184 having a bondingmaterial 186 disposed upon a surface thereof. The cinching tab 184 canbe used to gather portions of the sleeve 162 a together about the stemportion 180 of the floral grouping 176 as shown in FIG. 16 for holdingthe sleeve 162 a tightly about the floral grouping 176.

[0074] Similarly, it may generally be desired to use the sleeve 162 as adecorative cover for a flower pot (not shown). The flower pot willgenerally contain a botanical item or plant. The flower pot can bedeposited into the open sleeve 162 in a manner well known in the art,such as manually wherein the sleeve 162 is opened by hand and the flowerpot deposited therein.

[0075] As noted above, a bonding material may be disposed on a portionof the sleeve 162 or any sleeve described herein to assist in holdingthe sleeve 162 to the flower pot when the flower pot is disposed withinthe sleeve 162 or to assist in closing the upper end 166 of the sleeve162 or adhering the sleeve 162 to the flower pot after the flower pothas been disposed therein, as will be discussed in further detail below.

[0076] It will be understood that the bonding material, if present, maybe disposed as a strip or block on a surface of the sleeve 162. Thebonding material may also be disposed upon either the outer peripheralsurface 164 or the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162, aswell as upon the flower pot. Further, the bonding material may bedisposed as spots of bonding material, or in any other geometric,non-geometric, asymmetric, or fanciful form, and in any pattern,including covering either the entire inner peripheral surface 172 and/orouter peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162 and/or the flower pot.The bonding material may be covered by a cover or release strip whichcan be removed prior to the use of the sleeve 162 or flower pot. Thebonding material can be applied by methods known to those of ordinaryskill in their art. One method for disposing a bonding material, in thiscase an adhesive, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,637, entitled“METHOD FOR WRAPPING A FLORAL GROUPING”, issued to Weder et al. on May12, 1993, which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

[0077] As noted above, a bonding material may be disposed on at least aportion of the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162 (or anyother sleeve described herein), or, alternatively, the bonding materialmay be disposed on the outer peripheral surface of a flower potcontained within the sleeve 162, while the sleeve 162 may be free of thebonding material. In a further alternative, the bonding material may bedisposed both on at least a portion of the flower pot as well as upon atleast a portion of the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162.In addition, a portion of the bonding material may also be disposed onthe outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162 as well. It will beunderstood that the bonding material may be disposed in a solid sectionof bonding material. The bonding material, when present, is disposed onthe sleeve 162 and/or flower pot by any method known in the art.

[0078] Certain versions of sleeves described herein may be used incombination with a preformed pot cover. For example, a preformed potcover may be applied to the pot, then the covered pot wrapped ordisposed within a sleeve. Either the cover or the sleeve, or both, mayhave a cloth-like appearance. Examples of sleeves which may be used inthis invention are shown in the specification of U.S. Pat. No.5,625,979, entitled “SLEEVE HAVING A DETACHABLE PORTION FORMING A SKIRTAND METHODS”, issued to Weder on May 6, 1997, which is expresslyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Equipment and devicesfor forming sleeves are commercially available, and well known in theart.

[0079] Shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 is another embodiment of a decorativecover 160 b comprising a sleeve having a cloth-like appearanceconstructed in accordance with the present invention and designated bythe general reference numeral 162 b. The sleeve 162 b has a “detaching”element in predetermined areas for detaching a portion of the sleeve 162b. The sleeve 162 b generally initially comprises a flexible flatcollapsed piece of material which is openable in the form of a tube orsleeve. The sleeve 162 b is constructed of the same material and in thesame way as described previously herein and may be described exactly thesame as the other sleeves described herein except for the additionalelements described hereinafter.

[0080] The sleeve 162 b has an upper end 166 b, a lower end 168 b, andan outer peripheral surface 164 b. The sleeve 162 b has an opening 170 bat the upper end 166 b thereof, and the sleeve 162 b may be open at thelower end 168 b or closed with a bottom at the lower end 168 b. In aflattened state, the sleeve 162 b has a first side 171 and a second side173. The sleeve 162 b also has an inner peripheral surface 172 b which,when the sleeve 162 b is opened, defines and encompasses an innerretaining space 174 b as shown in FIG. 18. When the lower end 168 b ofthe sleeve 162 b has a closed bottom, a portion of the lower end 168 bmay be inwardly folded to form one or more gussets (not shown) forpermitting a circular bottom of an object such as a potted plant 176 bto be disposed in the inner retaining space 174 b of the lower end 168 bof the sleeve 162 b.

[0081] As shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the sleeve 162 b is demarcated intoan upper portion 188 and a lower portion 190. The lower portion 190 ofthe sleeve 162 b is generally sized to contain the flower pot 176 b. Theupper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b is sized to substantially surroundand encompass a plant 192 contained in the flower pot 176 b disposedwithin the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b. The sleeve 162 b isdemarcated into the upper portion 188 and the lower portion 190 by adetaching element 194 for enabling the detachment of the upper portion188 of the sleeve 162 b from the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b.In the present version, the detaching element 194 is a plurality ofgenerally laterally-oriented or alternatingly diagonally-orientedperforations which extend circumferentially across the outer peripheralsurface 164 b of the sleeve 162 b from the first side 171 to the secondside 173.

[0082] In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the lowerportion 190 of the sleeve 162 b further comprises a base portion 196 anda skirt portion 198. The base portion 196 comprises that part of thelower portion 190 which, when the flower pot 176 b is placed into thelower portion 190, has an inner peripheral surface 172 b which issubstantially adjacent to and surrounds an outer peripheral surface 199of the flower pot 176 b. The skirt portion 198 comprises that part ofthe lower portion 190 which extends beyond an open upper end 201 of theflower pot 176 b and adjacent at least a portion of the plant 192contained within the flower pot 176 b and which is left to freely extendat an angle, inwardly or outwardly, from the base portion 196 when theupper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b is detached from the lower portion190 of the sleeve 162 b by actuation of the detaching element 194.

[0083] In the intact sleeve 162 b, the skirt portion 198 comprises anupper peripheral edge congruent with the detaching element 194 which isconnected to a lower peripheral edge, also congruent with the detachingelement 194, of the upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b. In FIGS. 17and 18, the upper peripheral edge of the skirt portion 198 is congruentwith a series of alternatingly diagonally-oriented lines of perforationswhich together form a zig-zag and comprise the detaching element 194.The upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b may also have an additionaldetaching element 200 indicated as a plurality of vertical perforationsfor facilitating removal of the upper portion 188 and which are disposedmore or less vertically therein extending between the detaching element194 of the sleeve 162 b.

[0084] The upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b is thereby separablefrom the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b by tearing the upperportion 188 along both the detaching element 200 and the detachingelement 194, thereby separating the upper portion 188 from the lowerportion 190 of the sleeve 162 b. The lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162b remains disposed as the base portion 196 about the flower pot 176 band as the skirt portion 198 about the plant 192 forming a decorativecover 202 as shown in FIG. 19 which substantially surrounds andencompasses the flower pot 176 b and the plant 192 contained therein. Anouter peripheral surface 164 b of the lower portion 190 of the sleeve162 b, for example, the base and skirt portions 196 and 198, may bemodified to provide the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b with aclothlike appearance, while the upper portion 188 is left unmodified oris printed with a design. When the upper portion 188 is detached, thelower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b remains about the flower pot 176 band thereby forms a decorative cover 202 about the flower pot 176 bwhich has the appearance of a cloth decorative cover.

[0085] “Detaching element” as used herein, includes any element, orcombination of elements, or features, such as, but not by way oflimitation, perforations, tear strips, zippers, and any other devices orelements of this nature known in the art, or any combination thereof.Therefore, while perforations are shown and described in detail herein,it will be understood that tear strips, zippers, or any other “detachingelements” known in the art, or any combination thereof, could besubstituted therefor and/or used therewith.

[0086] In a general method of use of sleeve 162 b as a decorative coverfor a flower pot, an operator provides a sleeve 162 b, and the flowerpot 176 b having a plant 192 disposed in a growing medium containedwithin the flower pot 176 b. The operator then disposes the flower pot176 b having the plant 192 contained therein into the sleeve 162 b byopening the sleeve 162 b at its upper end 166 b and assuring both thatthe opening 170 b therein is in an open condition, and that the innerperipheral surface 172 b of the sleeve 162 b is somewhat expandedoutward as well, as shown in FIG. 18. The operator then manually orautomatically disposes the flower pot 176 b into the opening 170 b inthe sleeve 162 b, the flower pot 176 b being disposed generally throughthe upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162 b into generally the lowerportion 190 of the sleeve 162 b, the flower pot 176 b remaining in thelower portion 190 of the sleeve 162 b, permitting the sleeve 162 b tosubstantially surround and tightly encompass the flower pot 176 b. Itwill be understood that alternatively, the sleeve 162 b may be providedwith an extension (not shown), and the sleeve 162 b may be disposed onrods or wickets, and the flower pot 176 b may be disposed in the sleeve162 b either before or after the sleeve 162 b has been removed from thewickets.

EMBODIMENTS OF FIGS. 20A-20C

[0087] Referring now to FIG. 20A, designated generally by the referencenumeral 210 is a polymeric ribbon material having a cloth-likeappearance for forming decorative bows and for wrapping items. That is,at least one surface of a web of polymeric material (not shown) ismodified to provide a matte or textured finish 212 simulating theappearance of cloth. The modification of the web of polymeric material(not shown) to provide the polymeric ribbon material 210 with a matte ortextured finish 212 can be accomplished in several ways. For example,the polymeric ribbon material 210 having the matte or textured finish212 can be produced by printing a web of polymeric material with amatted (i.e. dull finish) ink, by lacquering at least one surface of thesheet of polymeric material with a dull finish lacquer or a mattinglacquer, by embossing the sheet of polymeric material to provide anembossed pattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth, or byflocking the sheet of polymeric material, or by application of afoamable lacquer or foamable ink to the sheet of polymeric material, orby embossing and printing the sheet of polymeric material to provideembossed and printed patterns wherein the embossed and printed patternsmay be in registry, out of registry or wherein a portion of the embossedand printed patterns are in registry and a portion of the embossed andprinted patterns are out of registry. In addition, a matte or texturedfinish 212 capable of providing the sheet of polymeric material 210 witha cloth-like appearance can be achieved by extruding a polymeric resinonto a matted or textured chill roll. Thereafter, the web of materialhaving a cloth-like appearance can be cut in a conventional manner toprovide the polymeric ribbon material 210 having a cloth-likeappearance.

[0088] Any polymeric material capable of being textured or otherwisemodified to provide the polymeric material with a cloth-like appearancecan be employed in the formulation of the polymeric ribbon material 210.For example, the polymeric material employed to produce the polymericribbon material 210 can be polypropylene film having a thickness in arange of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, and more desirably in arange of from about 0.5 mil to about 2.5 mil, or an expanded corepolymeric film having a thickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil toabout 10 mil.

[0089] Referring now to FIG. 20B, designated generally by the referencenumeral 220 is another embodiment of a polymeric ribbon material forforming decorative bows and for wrapping items. The polymeric ribbonmaterial 220 comprises an expanded core polymeric film 222 having athickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil and apolymeric film 224 having a thickness in a range of from about 0.6 milto about 10 mil. The polymeric film 224 is desirably laminated to theexpanded core polymeric film 222 with a colored adhesive so as to imparta desired color to the polymeric ribbon material 220. If desired thepolymeric ribbon material 220 may be treated or otherwise processed toprovide the polymeric ribbon material 220 with a matte or texturedfinish 226 simulating the weave or knit of cloth so that the polymericribbon material 220 has a cloth like appearance similar to the polymericribbon material 210 hereinbefore described with reference to FIG. 20A.That is, a matte or textured finish 226 simulating cloth can be printedon the expanded core polymeric film 222, and thereafter the polymericfilm 224 (which in this case is desirably a matte material oftranslucent polymeric film) is laminated to the polymeric film 224 toprovide the polymeric ribbon material 220 with a cloth-like appearance.To further enhance the cloth-like appearance of the polymeric ribbonmaterial 220, the polymeric film 224 may or may not have a plurality ofspatially disposed holes extending therethrough. The matte or texturedfinish 226 can be produced by printing the polymeric film 224 laminatedto the expanded core polymeric film 222 with a matted (i.e. dull finish)ink, by lacquering at least one surface of the polymeric film 224 with adull finish lacquer or a matting lacquer, by flocking the polymeric film224, by application of a foamable lacquer or foamable ink to thepolymeric film 224, by embossing the polymeric film 224 to provide anembossed pattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth, or byembossing and printing the polymeric film 224 to provide embossed andprinted patterns wherein the embossed and printed patterns may be inregistry, out of registry, or wherein a portion of the embossed andprinted patterns are in registry and a portion of the embossed andprinted patterns are out of registry. In addition, a matte or texturedfinish 226 capable of providing the polymeric ribbon material 220 with acloth-like appearance can be achieved by extruding the resin used toproduce the expanded core polymeric film 222 and\or the resin used toproduce the polymeric film 224 onto a matted or textured chill roll.

[0090] Referring now to FIG. 20C, designated generally by the referencenumeral 230 is another embodiment of a polymeric ribbon material forforming decorative bows and for wrapping items. The polymeric ribbonmaterial 230 comprises a polymeric film 232 having an upper surface 234,a lower surface 236 and a thickness in the range of from about 0.6 milto about 10 mil. An acrylic heat sealable lacquer 238 is applied to atleast one of the upper and lower surfaces 234 and 236 of the polymericfilm 232, such as the lower surface 236 of the polymeric film 232 andthe upper surface 234 of the polymeric film 232 is desirably modified toprovide the polymeric ribbon material 230 with a matte or texturedfinish 240 simulating the appearance of cloth. The modification of thepolymeric film 232 to provide the polymeric ribbon material 230 with acloth-like appearance can be accomplished in several ways. For example,the polymeric ribbon material 230 having the matte or textured finish240 can be produced by printing a web of polymeric material with amatted (i.e. dull finish) ink, by lacquering at least one of the uppersurface 234 or the lower surface 236 of the polymeric film 232 with adull finish lacquer or a matting lacquer, by flocking the polymeric film232, by application of a foamable lacquer or foamable ink to thepolymeric film 232, by embossing the polymeric film 232 to provide anembossed pattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth, or byembossing and printing the polymeric film 232 to provide embossed andprinted patterns wherein the embossed and printed patterns may be inregistry, out of registry or wherein a portion of the embossed andprinted patterns are in registry and a portion of the embossed andprinted patterns are out of registry. In addition, a matte or texturedfinish 240 capable of providing the polymeric film 232 with a cloth-likeappearance can be achieved by extruding a polymeric resin onto a mattedor textured chill roll. Thereafter, the polymeric film 232 having acloth-like appearance can be cut in a conventional manner to provide thepolymeric ribbon material 280.

[0091] Any polymeric film capable of being textured or otherwisemodified to provide the polymeric material with a cloth-like appearancecan be employed in the formulation of the polymeric ribbon material 230.For example, the polymeric film 232 employed to produce the polymericribbon material 230 can be polypropylene film having a thickness in arange of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, and more desirably in arange of from about 0.5 mil to about 2.5 mil, or an expanded corepolymeric film having a thickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil toabout 10 mil.

[0092] Changes may be made in the construction and the operation of thevarious components, elements and assemblies described herein or in thesteps or the sequence of steps of the methods described herein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for producing a decorative preformedflower pot cover, comprising the steps of: providing a sheet ofpolymeric material having an upper surface and a lower surface whereinat least a portion of one of the upper surface and the lower surface ofthe sheet of polymeric material is modified to provide such surface witha textured or matte finish simulating the appearance of cloth; andforming the sheet of polymeric material into a decorative preformedflower pot cover having a textured or matte finish simulating theappearance of cloth on at least a portion of one surface thereof, thedecorative preformed flower pot cover comprising: a base having a lowerend, an open upper end, an outer peripheral surface, an inner peripheralsurface and a retaining space, the base of the decorative preformedflower pot cover having a plurality of overlapping folds of which atleast a portion are permanently connected so that the decorativepreformed flower pot cover may be substantially flattened and thenunflattened to assume the original shape of the decorative preformedflower pot cover; a decorative border extending outwardly from the openupper end of the base; and wherein at least a portion of one surface ofat least one of the base and decorative border of the decorativepreformed flower pot cover is provided with a textured or matte finishsimulating the appearance of cloth.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein, inthe step of providing a sheet of polymeric material, the sheet ofpolymeric material is an expanded core polymeric film having a thicknessin the range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil.
 3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein, in the step of providing a sheet of polymeric material,at least a portion of one of the upper and lower surfaces of the sheetof polymeric material is printed, embossed, lacquered, textured orcombinations thereof to provide the textured or matte finish simulatingthe appearance of cloth.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the texturedor matte finish simulating the appearance of cloth is provided byprinting and embossing, and the printed and embossed patterns are inregistry with one another.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein the texturedor matte finish simulating the appearance of cloth is provided byprinting and embossing, and the printed and embossed patterns are out ofregistry with one another.
 6. The method of claim 3 wherein the texturedor matte finish simulating the appearance of cloth is provided byprinting with a matted ink or lacquering with a matted lacquer.
 7. Themethod of claim 3 wherein the textured or matte finish simulating theappearance of cloth is provided by printing with a foamable ink orlacquering with a foamable lacquer.
 8. A method for producing adecorative preformed flower pot cover, comprising the steps of:providing a laminated polymeric material having an upper surface and alower surface wherein at least a portion of one of the upper surface andthe lower surface of the laminated polymeric material is modified toprovide such surface with a textured or matte finish simulating theappearance of cloth, the laminated polymeric material comprising: apolymeric film having an upper surface, a lower surface, and a thicknessin the range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil; and a sheet ofmaterial having a thickness in the range of from about 0.6 mil to about10 mil, the sheet of material laminated to at least one of the upper andlower surfaces of the polymeric film to form the laminated polymericmaterial, at least a portion of one surface of one of the polymeric filmand the sheet of material laminated thereto being modified to provide atextured or matte finish simulating the appearance of cloth so that atleast a portion of one surface of the laminated polymeric materialformed therefrom is provided with a textured or matte finish simulatingthe appearance of cloth; and forming the laminated polymeric materialinto a decorative preformed flower pot cover having a textured or mattefinish simulating the appearance of cloth on at least a portion of onesurface thereof, the decorative preformed flower pot cover comprising: abase having a lower end, an open upper end, an outer peripheral surface,an inner peripheral surface and a retaining space, the base of thedecorative preformed flower pot cover having a plurality of overlappingfolds of which at least a portion are permanently connected so that thedecorative preformed flower pot cover may be substantially flattened andthen unflattened to assume the original shape of the decorativepreformed flower pot cover; a decorative border extending outwardly fromthe open upper end of the base; and wherein at least a portion of onesurface of at least one of the base and decorative border of thedecorative preformed flower pot cover is provided with a textured ormatte finish simulating the appearance of cloth.
 9. The method of claim8 wherein, in the step of providing a laminated polymeric material, thepolymeric film and the sheet of material are laminated with a coloredadhesive.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein, in the step of providing alaminated polymeric material, at least a portion of one of the upper andlower surfaces of the laminated polymeric material is printed, embossed,lacquered, textured or combinations thereof to provide the textured ormatte finish simulating the appearance of cloth.
 11. The method of claim10 wherein the textured or matte finish simulating the appearance ofcloth is provided by printing and embossing, and the printed andembossed patterns are in registry with one another.
 12. The method ofclaim 10 wherein the textured or matte finish simulating the appearanceof cloth is provided by printing and embossing, and the printed andembossed patterns are out of registry with one another.
 13. The methodof claim 10 wherein the textured or matte finish simulating theappearance of cloth is provided by printing with a matted ink orlacquering with a matted lacquer.
 14. The method of claim 10 wherein thetextured or matte finish simulating the appearance of cloth is providedby printing with a foamable ink or lacquering with a foamable lacquer.15. The method of claim 8 wherein, in the step of providing a laminatedpolymeric material, the polymeric film is an expanded core polymericfilm and the sheet of material laminated to the polymeric film asubstantially water impervious polymeric film.